PREVIEW: FLYERS @ PENGUINS
Looking to strengthen their hold on an Eastern Conference playoff spot, Dave Hakstol's Philadelphia Flyers (38-25-13) are in western Pennsylvania on Sunday to take on Mike Sullivan's Pittsburgh Penguins (45-25-8). Game time is 5:00 p.m. EDT. The game will be televised on CSN Philadelphia.
This is the third of four meetings between the arch-rival teams this season and the second and final game at Consol Energy Center. Last season, the Flyers swept the season series against the Pens but Pittsburgh has won each of the first two games this season in regulation.
On Jan. 21 in Pittsburgh, the Flyers took a 2-0 lead to the first intermission but were dominated in the second period by the Penguins. Pittsburgh exploded for three goals (which easily could have been six or seven). The Pens added an insurance goal in the third period. The Flyers got back within 4-3 and pushed very heavily in the final minute but were unable to find an equalizer.
On a frustrating March 19 afternoon at the Wells Fargo Center, the Philadelphia Flyers had trouble finding time or space to make plays against relentless puck pressure from Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh dominated the second period once again, riding a three-goal outburst and a well-managed third period to a 4-1 win. The Flyers wasted a short-lived 1-0 lead and strong goaltending. The final Pittsburgh goal was an empty-netter.
The Flyers enter this game coming off a 3-2 regulation home win over the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. The opening 40 minutes -- especially portions of the second period -- were not the Flyers best hockey but they closed things out well. Three power play goals and excellent goaltending led the way.
Saturday's game is the second segment of the Flyers' six-games-in-nine-days gauntlet to end the 2015-16 regular season. They will have two nights off following this game before their next set of back-to-back games against the Detroit Red Wings (road) and Toronto Maple Leafs (home). Friday is an off-day. The season concludes with back-to-back games against the Penguins (home) and New York Islanders (road).
The Flyers hold two games in hand on the Red Wings and one on the Boston Bruins. Detroit pulled back into a points tie (91-91) with the Flyers with a 3-2 road win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday evening. Boston, now one point behind the Flyers and currently out of a playoff spot, are on the road on Sunday afternoon to face the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks in a nationally televised game.
Both Detroit (38-36) and Boston (37-36) hold tie-breaker advantages over the Flyers in regulation and overtime wins in the event of a tie in points at the end of the season.
Philadelphia is two points behind the New York Islanders for the higher wildcard seed. Both teams have five games to play by April 10, including their head-to-head clash in Brooklyn on the final day of the season. New York holds a 37-36 tiebreaker advantage.
The Isles hosted the Penguins on Saturday afternoon. Pittsburgh unwittingly helped Philadelphia's wildcard cause in addition to their own by virtue of a 5-0 blowout victory. With 98 points, the Penguins have clinched a playoff spot and hold a three-point advantage on the third-place New York Rangers for home ice advantage if the two teams square off in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. The Islanders are two points behind the Rangers, while the Flyers are four points out.
The Islanders are idle on Sunday, then play back-to-back games on Monday against the Tampa Bay Lightning (home) and Tuesday against the Washington Capitals (road). The Isles will have single off-nights sandwiched around a Thursday night game at Madison Square Garden against the Rangers and then conclude with weekend back-to-back home games against the Buffalo Sabres and Flyers.
Flyers Outlook
The Flyers are 13-3-2 over their last 18 games. For the season, the team has 17-15-6 road record -- a significant improvement from last season -- compared to a 22-10-7 home mark.
On Saturday, Wayne Simmonds notched a pair of power play goals and Sean Couturier also scored on the man advantage as the Flyers went 3-for-4 to take full advantage of Ottawa's woeful penalty killing units; Ottawa entered the game at a dismal 75.9 percent on the PK and dropped to 75.1 by the end of the afternoon. The Flyers, who had shown signs of breaking free from a power play slump, improved to 19.0 percent on the season.
Starting for the eighth straight game and 13th of the last 14 games, Steve Mason showed no outward signs of fatigue in a stellar 33-save performance against Ottawa. He stopped everything he had a realistic chance to save, including a Mike Hoffman breakaway shortly after the Flyers got the first goal of the game. Hakstol's plan appears to be to ride Mason every game until/unless the team is locked into a playoff spot or if Mason shows obvious signs of needing a rest.
Mason has appeared in 50 games this season, posting a 22-17-9 record, 2.48 goals against average, .920 save percentage and four shutouts (five regulation shutouts). Michal Neuvirth, who is for the rest of the regular season with torn meniscus in his left knee, appeared in 31 games, posting a 17-8-4 record, 2.28 GAA, .925 save percentage and three shutouts.
Neuvirth is slated to begin skating over the next week. It is unlikely that he will be available to dress even as a backup before the regular season ends. If the Flyers reach the playoffs, he should be available within the first round.
Second year pro Anthony Stolarz has had several NHL recalls but has yet to appear in an NHL regular season game. Stolarz had an outstanding first half of the AHL season -- especially the first two months -- and earned a selection to the AHL All-Star Game. in 40 games this season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Stolarz has posted a 19-14-6 record, 2.57 GAA and .917 SV%.
On April 1, the Flyers announced that they were signing veteran goaltender Ray Emery to a contract for the rest of the season. As required by NHL rules for free agent players who played in Europe during the season, the Flyers had to place Emery on waivers before he could be added to the roster. He cleared as expected. Emery will not be eligible for the postseason. Emery, who bounced around this year on various tryouts and finished the season playing in the DEL for Adler Mannheim, is in game shape if needed to back up.
Thus far, the Flyers have done a remarkably good job of playing around the absence of top-pairing defenseman Michael Del Zotto. The player, who suffered torn ligaments in his left wrist on February 13, is out for the rest of the season.
Shayne Gostisbehere has set two franchise records and an NHL record this season: most goals by a Flyers rookie defenseman (16 to date), and longest consecutive-game point streak (15 games) by a Flyers rookie or any rookie defenseman in NHL history. Gostisbehere needs seven points over the final five games to match Behn Wilson's franchise rookie defenseman season record of 49 points (set over 80 games in 1978-79).
Team captain Claude Giroux leads the Flyers with 22 goals, 43 assists and 65 points in 74 games. He is followed on the Flyers' scoring leader list by Simmonds (28 goals, 26 assists, 56 points, 141 penalty minutes), Brayden Schenn (25 goals, 31 assists, 56 points) and Jakub Voracek (10 goals, 42 assists, 52 points in 64 games). Among Gostisbehere's 16 goals, seven have come on the power play, and four in overtime and he has scored five game-winners overall to go along with 26 assists and 42 points in 59 games. Couturier rounds out the top six with 11 goals, 26 assists and 37 points in 59 games.
Penguins Outlook
As hot as the Flyers have been of late, no team in the NHL has outpaced the Penguins -- both over the last 10 games (9-1-0) and ever since Sullivan took over as head coach for Mike Johnston and Sidney Crosby recovered his "A" game after a so-so first three months of the season by his standards. Pittsburgh brings a 25-11-4 home record into this game.
Not even key injuries have slowed down the Penguins. The loss of Evgeni Malkin (upper body) in mid-March for six to eight weeks and, more recently, Marc-Andre Fleury (concussion) for an undetermined amount of time could have bearing on a playoff series but Pittsburgh has just kept rolling forward in the meantime.
On Saturday, promising young goaltender Matthew Murray notched a 24-save shutout against the Islanders. Oskar Sundqvist, Patric Hörnqvist (power play), Matt Cullen, the red-hot Phil Kessel (power play) and Tom Kuhnhackl scored for the Penguins in the 5-0 victory. Crosby and Kris Letang chipped in an assist apiece. Justin Schultz had two assists.
The hiring of Sullivan as head coach was a major turning point for Pittsburgh. Under Johnston, they sometimes seemed to be rudderless and disorganized because the players did not seem to be buying in to what the longtime Portland Winterhawks' bench boss was selling. There's better structure and greater consistency now.
Part of the reason why the Flyers beat the Penguins with relative frequency dating back to the stretch run of the 2011-12 season onward was that the Flyers fed off the emotion and conflict of the rivalry. Conversely, the Penguins often lost any sense of discipline and direction and could not reel themselves back in once things inevitably escalated.
In the last two meetings at least, the Penguins seemed to be a much more resilient bunch than even last season or early this season. That trend could be put to the test on Sunday and next Saturday.
The Flyers know they have to keep an eye on Letang generating offense from the back end. They would also do well not to lose track of defenseman Trevor Daley, who has scored four goals against them -- two as a member of the Dallas Stars, two as a Penguin -- over his last five games against Philly. All four goals have been scored on weak side tallies where he pinched down to the circle and received a cross-ice feed. His most recent goal was scored on a delayed penalty in the March 19 game at the Wells Fargo Center.
Crosby leads the Penguins with 81 points (32 goals, 49 assists) in 77 games. He is followed by Letang (16 goals, 46 assists, 62 points in 68 games), the injured Malkin (27 goals, 31 assists, 58 points in 57 games), Kessel (26 goals, 31 assists, 57 ponts in 78 games), Hörnqvist (20 goals,31 assists, 48 points), Chris Kunitz (17 goals, 22 assists, 39 points, plus-30 at even strength), in-season addition Carl Hagelin (11 goals, 24 assists, 35 points), and Cullen (14 goals, 14 assists, 28 points in 78 games).
Although he is not a natural finisher, Hagelin's blazing speed and two-way awareness gives fits to opposing teams and he has always been in the middle of far more scoring chances than his stats typically indicate. His addition has helped the Pens in general and brought another dimension to Kessel's current line with Nick Bonino (eight goals, 24 points in 59 games). In
Young defenseman Olli Määttä (six goals, 19 points, plus-27 at even strength) is doubtful for this game with a lower-body injury. When healthy this year, he has resumed his emergence as one of the top young "glue-guy" defensemen in the NHL after he was set back last season while battling a thyroid tumor detected in its nascent stages.
Fleury appeared in 58 games before sustaining his recent concussion, posting a 35-17-6 record, 2.29 goals against average, .921 save percentage and five shutouts. Murray has appeared in nine NHL games, posting a 6-2-1 record, 1.86 GAA, .933 SV% and one shutout. Backup Jeff Zatkoff has made 11 starts and two relief appearances, posting a 4-6-1 record, 2.78 GAA and .917 save percentage.
Key team stat comparisons (NHL overall ranking)
Non-shootout goals per game: Flyers 2.57 (21st), Penguins 2.88 (T-4th)
Non-shootout goals against per game: Flyers 2.52 (11th), Penguins 2.41 (T-5th)
5-on-5 Goals For/Against Ratio: Flyers 125/119, Penguins 1XX/1XX
Power play efficiency: Flyers 19.0% (14th), Penguins 18.6% (T-17th)
Penalty killing efficiency: Flyers 80.3% (22nd), Penguins 83.6% (7th)
Shots per game: Flyers 30.8 (6th), Penguins 33.3 (1st)
Shots against per game: Flyers 31.1 (25th), Penguins 29.6 (T-13th)
Faceoff percentage: Flyers 50.7% (8th), Penguins 50.4% (T-11th)
Projected lineups (subject to change, will be updated)
Flyers
10 Brayden Schenn - 28 Claude Giroux - 17 Wayne Simmonds
12 Michael Raffl - 14 Sean Couturier - 93 Jakub Voracek
89 Sam Gagner - 52 Nick Cousins - 24 Matt Read
76 Chris VandeVelde - 78 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Ryan White
47 Andrew MacDonald - 53 Shayne Gostisbehere
55 Nick Schultz - 32 Mark Streit
23 Brandon Manning - 3 Radko Gudas
35 Steve Mason
[65 Anthony Stolarz]
Scratches: Evgeny Medvedev (healthy), R.J. Umberger (healthy), Scott Laughton (healthy), Jordan Weal (healthy), Michael Del Zotto (IR, wrist), Michal Neuvirth (suspected left knee injury), Ray Emery (healthy).
Penguins
14 Chris Kunitz - 87 Sidney Crosby - 72 Patric Hörnqvist
62 Carl Hagelin - 13 Nick Bonino - 81 Phil Kessel
34 Tom Kuhnhackl - 7 Matt Cullen - 19 Beau Bennett
43 Conor Sheary - 40 Oskar Sundqvist - 16 Eric Fehr
6 Trevor Daley - 58 Kris Letang
28 Ian Cole - 4 Justin Schultz
8 Brian Dumoulin - 12 Ben Lovejoy
30 - Matt Murray / 37 Jeff Zatkoff
Scratches: Derrick Pouliot (healthy), Bryan Rust (questionable, lower body), Ollli Määttä (doubtful, lower body), Evgeni Malkin (IR, upper body), Marc-Andre Fleury (concussion), Kevin Porter (IR, leg/ankle), Scott Wilson (IR, upper body).
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Flyers Alumni: 12th Annual Goals for Giving for NHS
The Flyers' 12th annual "Goals for Giving" benefit hockey game for NHS Human Services on Sunday has sold out. No tickets remain either for the 1:30 p.m. game at the Northeast Philadelphia Flyers Skate Zone nor for the postgame meet-and-greet with the Flyers Alumni at the Chickie's and Pete's location on Roosevelt Blvd.
However, there is still opportunity to donate to the GFG fundraising drive. The Alumni and NHS originally set a $125,000 fundraising goal for this season but they've surpassed it by over $5,000 already. For more information,
click here.
This year's Goals for Giving game has a different twist to it. The Flyers Alumni roster is being split, with five Alumni playing for the NHS Blues side.
Participating players this year include Danny Briere, Bob "the Hound" Kelly, Joe Watson, Brad Marsh, Doug Crossman, Terry Carkner, Mitch Lamoureux, Frank "the Animal" Bialowas, Dave MacIsaac and Jim Watson's sons Chase and Brett playing on the Flyers Alumni side. Players suiting up on the NHS Blues side include Brian Propp, Kjell Samuelsson, Todd "Fridge" Fedoruk, Craig Berube and Larry "Izzy" Goodenough.
Over the previous eleven years, the Goals for Giving benefits have raised $506,000 to support the NHS' care-providing services in the areas of mental health, addictive diseases, life-skills and classroom education, foster care and permanency, autism, juvenile justice and serving those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Specific uses of the funds raised include providing therapeutic horseback riding, iPads for our schools, holiday parties, summer camps, sensory rooms, proms, trips to ball games and amusement parks among many other services.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
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